malbarh1's review against another edition
4.0
5/5
I think this is one of my favorite retellings of Ancient Greek myth. I love the way it paints the men—deeply flawed, with no care or respect for women. I also like how REAL it is. The book portrayed the rape camps that housed the greek warriors outside of Troy, and the unavoidable fate of women in a city lost to war.
The writing style was also really beautiful. Barker was able to give Briseis a voice while still allowing the reader to see through her eyes as easily as breathing. A truly wonderful book.
I think this is one of my favorite retellings of Ancient Greek myth. I love the way it paints the men—deeply flawed, with no care or respect for women. I also like how REAL it is. The book portrayed the rape camps that housed the greek warriors outside of Troy, and the unavoidable fate of women in a city lost to war.
The writing style was also really beautiful. Barker was able to give Briseis a voice while still allowing the reader to see through her eyes as easily as breathing. A truly wonderful book.
thelegendofshelbi's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
anmartin1317's review against another edition
3.0
Another one that I want to give 3.5 ⭐️ I’ve been on a Greek kick this year, so I was really excited by the concept of this book. It was good and I’d recommend it, but it got repetitive in the first 50% of the book. After about 60% and the story picked up more, I really enjoyed the plot. Plus there was some beautiful writing in this book
jess70l's review against another edition
4.0
If you have read the Song of Achilles you have read this story. It is however from Briesies' perspective.
bethanaayyreads's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 ⭐️
**A better version of Song of Achilles** (to me)
i found myself CONSTANTLY comparing the two books and by far i prefer this one. SoA definitely is the love story if you want that but this book as far as accuracy and also not romanticizing the relationship between enslaver and enslaved
(i’m very glad briseis doesn’t make a move on patroclus in this telling bc although she comes to love him in a way in this book she is still remembers how she’s come to be in his camp in the first place.. she loves him for his kindness and the way he feels stuck sometimes with his relationship to achilles.. but she’s still mad and traumatized bc of her situation )
i also feel this book does achilles more justice in the sense he feels like a fully fleshed out character. achilles is less lovable in this book but he feels more real. he’s arrogant. he’s emotional. he’s apathetic. he’s traumatized. he needs the war. he needs his honor. he needs patroclus. he struggles with who he is without those things.
achilles having mommy issues.. such a realistic take on his weird parentage and upbringing
also, the achilles patroclus relationship feels more deep despite not coming down on either side of whether is was romantic/sexual or not. Barker made it clear their connection was so much deeper than just lovers or just friends. the line is blurred.
——
my main issue was the combination of 1st person POV with Briseis and then 3rd person for Achilles (& others).. it made those chapters feel a bit disjointed.. especially with how well written Briseis’s chapters were the periodic Achilles ones just fell flat and were harder to read. i kept feeling like i wanted to get thru then instead of enjoying them.
**A better version of Song of Achilles** (to me)
i found myself CONSTANTLY comparing the two books and by far i prefer this one. SoA definitely is the love story if you want that but this book as far as accuracy and also not romanticizing the relationship between enslaver and enslaved
(i’m very glad briseis doesn’t make a move on patroclus in this telling bc although she comes to love him in a way in this book she is still remembers how she’s come to be in his camp in the first place.. she loves him for his kindness and the way he feels stuck sometimes with his relationship to achilles.. but she’s still mad and traumatized bc of her situation )
i also feel this book does achilles more justice in the sense he feels like a fully fleshed out character. achilles is less lovable in this book but he feels more real. he’s arrogant. he’s emotional. he’s apathetic. he’s traumatized. he needs the war. he needs his honor. he needs patroclus. he struggles with who he is without those things.
achilles having mommy issues.. such a realistic take on his weird parentage and upbringing
also, the achilles patroclus relationship feels more deep despite not coming down on either side of whether is was romantic/sexual or not. Barker made it clear their connection was so much deeper than just lovers or just friends. the line is blurred.
——
my main issue was the combination of 1st person POV with Briseis and then 3rd person for Achilles (& others).. it made those chapters feel a bit disjointed.. especially with how well written Briseis’s chapters were the periodic Achilles ones just fell flat and were harder to read. i kept feeling like i wanted to get thru then instead of enjoying them.
kanen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
amelieveinme's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
shmashes's review against another edition
4.0
I honestly did not have very high hopes for this book as I recently read the Song of Achilles and was not a very big fan. Briseis was one of the few characters I really liked from that book, so I decided to give this one a try. The biggest difference for me is that the story isn't being romanticized. Achilles is pretty terrible and Briseis is aware of it the whole time. The love between Achilles and Patroclus is there. I also liked the portrayal of Patroclus. I felt like I got a better understanding of his character outside of his fealty to Achilles. He was caring and strong. I'm still not a huge fan of ancient Greek mythology (outside of Xena), but I liked this take on it.
af_franklin's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this. I read a thousands ships as well and think I enjoyed this one a bit more just because it wasn’t as flowery and really got into some of the gruesome things that happened to the women captured during the fall of Troy. Would definitely recommend this story if that is something you are looking for.
_fr_day_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0